Identity and the body in adolescents and emerging adults with a chronic illness: An integrative and longitudinal perspective

Although the link between one’s body experiences and identity development has been highlighted repeatedly, little integrative work has been conducted. Further, existing research lacks theoretical and methodological sophistication and mainly focused on negative body image at the cost of adopting a more integrative perspective on embodiment. To remedy these shortcomings, the ID-BODY project upholds a differentiated and nuanced perspective on identity and the body using longitudinal and mixed-methods designs. The main research question of ID-BODY is: How is the development of identity and the way individuals inhabit their body linked in different community and clinical populations? Different populations will be targeted to capture our core constructs across the normative and clinical range. WP1 assesses community adolescents and emerging adults, focuses on sociocultural and psychological mechanisms linking identity and the body, and how these variables play into functioning and maladaptive behavior. WP2 focuses on chronic illness affecting how youth see themselves and inhabit their body. We examine how these constructs are related to illness adaptation and generic functioning in the long term, testifying to the clinical relevance of the identity-body link. WP3 assesses individuals with eating disorders, given that in this population identity and the body are strongly compromised. We focus on short-term dynamics to fine-tune the identity-body interplay. The present dissertation focuses on WP2 and focuses on individuals with type 1 diabetes and congenital heart disease. Both long-term longitudinal and qualitative-narrative data will be used to chart how identity and body image/embodiment develop throughout adolescence and young adulthood, and how both variables relate to generic (e.g., depressive symptoms, disturbed eating behaviors, …) and illness-specific functioning (e.g., treatment adherence, glycemic control, …). The present dissertation has the potential to inform clinical practice and to improve existing prevention and intervention efforts.